A commission charged with maintaining Britain’s role as a world class aviation
hub will make “immediate” recommendations for squeezing more out of existing
runways, the new Transport Secretary said today.

Patrick McLoughlin told Parliament that the independent commission to be
chaired by Sir Howard Davies, former head of the Financial Services
Authority, would identify ways of improving UK airports over a five-year
period from 2013. However, the commission will publish its final report
assessing the need for new runways and their possible location in the summer
of 2015. Only then would the next government decide whether to endorse
expansion in